Exotic Germplasm Introgression Effects On Yield and Fiber Properties of Upland Cotton

Our research is focused on the objective of determining the effect of exotic germplasm introgression on agronomic and fiber properties of adapted cotton germplasm. For this we used eight populations derived by crossing two exotic parents (TX 245 and TX 1419) with four adapted cultivars (FM 966, PM 1218, Deltapearl and SG 747). In each population we generated five combinations with different levels of exotic percentage: 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100. We conducted RCBD with two years, two locations, two replications and five blocks. Results indicated that increase in exotic percentage decreased all yield traits under study except for days to first flowering. Seed cotton yield did not show any significant decline between 0 percent exotic and 25 percent exotic, an interesting observation. Fiber properties also declined significantly with increase in exotic percentage except for fiber elongation, which increased with increase in exotic percentage. Uniformity Index did not show any significant difference between 0 percent exotic and 25 percent exotic. Within populations, some lines improved with respect to yield and fiber properties.